Reverb Consulting

photo by P. Davis Baker

I want to keep this list of strategies from a recent post by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits, so this blog is a great place for that.  I like this list because it is varied and long enough for me to find something different to do each week to stay fresh, inspired and primed to be able to see things in an interesting way.  Zen Habits is a famously successful blog and the original post was entitled The Little But Really Useful Guide to Creativity.

Most people have a very limited and confined understanding of creativity. They imagine being creative as being able to draw or paint or write a short story.  To me, being creative is about being able to summons great energy and passion and skill toward any project. It could be to cook a meal, to set a table, to meet someone new and carry on a real conversation. It could be in designing the culture of an organization, which is one of my creative outlets. Creativity at its essence is about being alive, lively, and engaged.  We would each be healthier, happier, and better contributors to our communities and the world were we all more creative.

Here’s the list of how to start to grow your understanding and skill of creativity.  And, my hope for myself and anyone reading this is that we all intentionally undertake creative growth! Growing my own vision, talent, compassion, ideas, and generosity remind me of one of my grandmother Georgia’s nuggets of wisdom:

Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God.

Increasing one’s creative capacity in any field is treasuring and stewarding our wonderful humanity.

• Play.
• Don’t consume and create at the same time — separate the processes.
• Shut out the outside world.
• Reflect on your life and work daily.
• Look for inspiration all around you, in the smallest places.
• Start small.
• Just get it out, no matter how crappy that first draft.
• Don’t try for perfect. Just get it out there, asap, and get feedback.
• Constantly make it better.
• Ignore the naysayers.
• But let criticism help you grow.
• Teach and you’ll learn.
• Shake things up, see things in new ways.
• Apply things in other fields to your field, in ways not done before.
• Drink ridiculous amounts of coffee.
• Write all ideas down immediately.
• Turn your work into play.
• Play with kids.
• Get out, move, see new things, talk to new people.
• Read wildly different things. Especially stuff you disagree with.
• Get lots of rest. Overwork kills creativity.
• Don’t force it. Relax, play, it will start to flow.
• Allow your mind to wander. Allow distractions, when you’re looking for inspiration.
• Then shut them off when you’re going to create.
• Do it when you’re excited.
• When you’re not, find something else to be excited about.
• Don’t be afraid to be stupid and silly.
• Small ideas are good. You don’t need to change the world — just change one thing.
• When something is killing your creativity, kill it.
• Stop reading creativity advice, clear away everything, and just create.
• Most of all, have fun doing it.